Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Diaries as a Therapeutic Intervention for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Following Critical Illness

Summary

The incidence of PTSD post ICU varies from unit to unit, however a significant number of patients have been shown to develop this disorder. Many patients do not recall their stay in ICU properly and yet can clearly recall nightmares, hallucinations or paranoid delusions, which may be very frightening for the patient to recall at a later stage. As yet, no interventional studies have had an impact on the development of PTSD in this population of patients. However, a recent observational multi-centre study suggested that those patients receiving a diary of their time in ICU had lower levels of symptoms of PTSD than those who did not. These results need to be verified in the form of a randomized study.

Conditions

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Interventions

OTHER

ICU Diary

ICU Diary containing daily information of patients condition and treatment with appropriate photographs

Sponsors & Collaborators

• St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

  collaborator OTHER

• Vrinnevishuset, Sweden

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Università degli Studi di Ferrara

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Copenhagen

  collaborator OTHER

• Haukeland University Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Hospital Pedro Hispano

  collaborator OTHER

• Sahlgrenska University Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• General Hospital of Santo António

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Liverpool

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Richard D Griffiths, MD · University of Liverpool

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2007-07-31

Primary Completion

2008-12-31

Completion

2008-12-31